Diamond City Chronicles
by white988
Summary: Ben has always been a powerful trainer, using very physical Pokemon, however after a tragic loss he goes on a journey to find those responsible, and finds a new part of himself along the way.
1. Diamond City

I could always feel the footsteps of my challengers even before they approached the sliding doors to the front of my gym. Step by step they moved closer to the entrance. I had always had this ability, this deep connection with rock and ground, that's why I chose to become the gym leader of Diamond City. I felt the name was only fitting of course, with diamond being the toughest of all gems; it made sense that Diamond City would hold the strongest gym. Now, being the final obstacle for trainers before they challenged the Pokémon league. One might think my gym would involve mental and physical tests for the trainers and their respective Pokémon to face, this however, could not be farther from the truth. I was rather confident having been a League champion myself. Having been at this point in my career only a few years ago I still felt the aggravation caused by these puzzles and I always had the feeling they distracted from the true test. So, in my gym I simply asked the trainer to battle one person, me. I had lost three times in my two years here; however I have awarded many more badges to trainers based on their will, determination, and bonds with their Pokémon.

The doors slid open just as I presumed they would. "May I see your badges?" I asked.

"Yes, sir" replied a shy voice as the trainer handed me their case.

"7, seemingly legitimate gym badges from this region," I sighed, "Pick your three Pokémon, I will be using one Rock type, one Steel type, and one fighting type."

"Yes, sir," He replied again, placing three pokéballs in the tray behind him.

"I'll begin with Golem." I said throwing my first ball.

"Octillary, I choose you!" The trainer slung a blue topped ball toward the center of the arena.

"Predictable," I sigh _this will be easier than I thought; _"Although you appear to have the advantage based on type the environment is more suited to my Golem. **Rollout!**" The massive rock Pokémon began to spin. It shot across the floor with tremendous speed as it struck the red octopus forcing it against the back wall.

"Octillary, return." He gasped.

"You're going to have to step it up if you want this badge. Fight me with everything you have inside of you! Show me what got you those first seven badges!" I taunted from across the arena hoping to coax the fire out of him.

"Golem, you did amazing take a break," a red beam flashed onto the rock type. "Now it's time to show me what you're made of! Aggron, you're up."

"Arcanine, it's time to shine!"

"This again," I sighed "Aggron, use mega punch on the ground." My steel Pokémon swung his glowing fist hard into the ground forcing rocks to fly in all directions."

"Arcanine, use flare blitz!" The large dog was engulfed in flame and began to charge toward my Aggron.

"Now use rockslide on the debris and take his Arcanine out!" I commanded. The rocks began to glow with a bluish tint and quickly flew toward the speeding Arcanine, ending its charge decisively. "You have one last chance to show me you have earned this badge, you have to make it count. Here's my fighting type, Lucario!"

"Fearow, you're my last chance…" he trailed off.

Lightning began to form around my Lucario's fist. "Stop," the electric power was rapidly extinguished, "get out, you won't receive a badge today, not with that attitude. You didn't choose the Pokémon you were closest to. Those bonds make an incredible difference in the heat of a battle, that's why I was able to take out your Octillary and Arcanine with such ease. The bond you share with them isn't near my bond with Golem or Aggron. Although I was at a type disadvantage, my partners believed in our bonds and refused to waiver, resulting in my victory. I spared your Fearow because it shouldn't suffer for your incompetence. Come back when you're truly prepared." I turned my back to the boy and walked into my office in the back room. The boy stomped his feet in anger as a red beam of light engulfed his Fearow taking it back into his Pokéball. He turned and stormed out my gym bumping into the shoulder of the five foot seven blonde that walked in past him.

"That was rather harsh, don't ya think?" A familiar voice rang in through the door way connecting my office to the rest of the gym area. "I mean you didn't have to make him cry, not every gym leader is a former champion after all, you could've taken it easier on him."

"Hi Jennie, nice to see you again, I've been great thanks, how about yourself?" I teased her.

"Pardon my lack of manners in front of lifelong friend!" She laughed, flipping her long blonde hair out her face revealing her strong hazel eyes, still burning with the same passion they always had. "Anyways Ben, I'm here to talk to you about something, rather serious. The Pokémon league asked me to come on their behalf in order to ask that you…"

The sound of a colossal explosion filled my ears, "What the hell!?" I yelled over the ringing I now heard. I grabbed three other pokéballs from the drawer in my desk and sprinted through the sliding door. The cloud of smoke billowed up from the flaming remains of the International Pokémon Association building. "Jennie, come see this!" She came sprinting out and began whipping her head in all directions, the instant she turned to the IPA building she froze. I fell to my knees and held my face in my hands, sobbing violently. My father worked in the IPA building; he was the last family member I had. Jennie knelt beside me, "Ben, I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around me and began sobbing.


	2. A Man's Word

"Th-this can't be ha-happening…" I stammered.

"Ben, I… I don't know what to say." Jennie said between breaths.

I pulled the cellphone from my pocket and dialed my dad's number. _Ring…Ring…Ring… _no answer, I tried again and again, _No Answer, No Answer. _"No, no, no," I tossed my phone aside and began punching the ground, my tears falling with the punches. This time Jennie grabbed me trying to restrain me to ensure I wouldn't do anything stupid like run into a burning building, _again. _I fought the restraint as hard as I could, but between the crying and pounding the ground, I had nearly nothing to fight with. I had given up, falling limp into Jennie's restraining arms and blacking out.

The light burned as I opened my eyes. The powder blue walls materialized around me as I regained consciousness. I looked around the seemingly familiar surroundings, "Jennie?" I sat up.

"Nice to see you're awake now Ben," a soft voice greeted me. "Mrs. Gray," I said immediately recognizing her soft features, she looked almost exactly like Jennie, except she has brown hair, Jennie's blond hair came from her father, "how are you? Where's Jennie? Is there any news on my Dad?" I had so many questions but the only response I earned was "Jennie's downstairs, and I'm fine thank you." Clearly she had avoided my question about my father intentionally, not wanting to burden me with any new worries or confirmed fears. I always admired the natural instincts of mothers, knowing exactly what to say and when to say it. I only now noticed the bandaging around the knuckles on my right hand; evidently I had been punching the ground rather hard. "You're awake!" Jennie's voice rang from the doorway, she ran to the bed I had been laying in and threw her arms around me. "I was so worried about you when you passed out; luckily Officer Jim had to help me get you inside and upstairs."

"I just don't understand how something like this would happen… I have to find out who would do this." I sat up in the bed and scanned the room for my pokéballs and my shoes.

"What do you think you're doing, mister," Jennie firmly pressed her hand to my shoulder, preventing any movement on my part, "You have just suffered serious trauma resulting from the loss of a loved one. You are certainly in no condition to go out and scamper around the region looking for bad guys." Although she would never admit it Jennie sounded more like her mother with each passing day.

"Jennie, I'm going. Regardless of what you think, I'm leaving. I will find out who did this, and I will get my revenge. I don't ca…"

"Then I'm coming with you." She interrupted, seeming very proud of herself.

"Um, no, you're not."

"There's nothing you can do to stop me, Ben. I'm going and that's final."

_You are just like your mom! _I thought, "Fine, you can come. It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice anyway." I moved her hand from my shoulder and grabbed my three pokéballs from the wooden desk adjacent to the bed. "Let's be going then." I said impatiently.

"Ben, wait," Mrs. Grey began, "your father wanted you to have this." She extended her hand; a Pokéball with a rock symbol etched in the top was nestled in her palms. "Thank you," I took the Pokéball and clicked the button in the middle, the ball instantly enlarged. I flicked my wrist and from a white beam of light a small Pokémon materialized. It was gray in color and a large horn protruded from its head. "Larrr," the Pokémon began to waddle towards my feet. I reached down and scooped him in my arms. "So he left me a Larvitar," tears welled in my eyes.

**_(Flashback)_**

I sat in front of the wall mounted television holding plush dolls of my favorite trainer, Shane Hammer, and his most popular Pokémon. The bond he shared with his partners is what put me in awe, the way he could give vicious commands, but be so kind once his partner was hurt, or the battle had ended, made me aspire to be like him. His combination of Tyranitar and Steelix crushed his opposition and won him the double battle title of the indigo league. I aspired to have a bond with my Pokémon like his.

"Hey there champ," my dad greeted me, coming down the stairs, "how are you enjoying the battle?"

"It was great Poppa, Shane won again!" I exclaimed.

"That's great to hear, buddy, but it's getting pretty late why don't you let me go tuck you in?" he proposed. I simply lifted my arms as to hug him; he wrapped his arms around my torso and pulled me to his side, my feet dangling high above the ground. "Now, Ben, you're going to be eight years old soon, and you know how important the bond between a trainer and his Pokémon is. So, I've convinced your mother to let you have your very first Pokémon," he chuckled at the wide grin spreading across my face, "So, who do you want your partner to be?"

I knew exactly who I wanted, "Larvitar!" I proclaimed.

My dad frowned; he hated to disappoint anyone, especially his only child.

"Larvitar is an incredibly rare Pokémon Ben. Larvitar are only found on Mt. Silver, in the Johto region. I'm so sorry, is there anyone else you might want?"

"Riolu!" I smiled, not missing a beat.

"That can be arranged," he smiled, laying me down into my bed and covering me with my blanket, "but I promise you one thing, champ, you will have a Larvitar one day." He kissed my forehead, turned off the lights, and shut my door.

**_ (End of Flashback)_**

_Sure knows how to keep his word _I thought.

"Ben, are you okay?" Jennie asked noticing the tears falling on Larvitar's head (he was clearly displeased at this, shaking slightly to try to rid his face of the occasional tear).

"You ready to leave?" I avoided answering her question.

She nodded to me, clutching her bag strings tight, as though she was a bit nervous. Jennie and I were surprisingly different trainers, despite our overall views on Pokémon as a whole.

My team was built out of solid physical attackers, who could decimate any defense, unfiltered brute strength, was my style. Beat anyone and anything into submission. On the other hand, Jennie preferred to see the beauty in battle, she used flying Pokémon to illustrate this, often having her Pokémon preforming air maneuvers to gracefully destroy her opponents. I was eager to see how her style had evolved beyond the years, and it seems a battle was just what I needed.


End file.
